At 21, Garcia older, wiser and poised for greatness

Spaniard appears ready to capture his 1st major title

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Sergio Garcia isn't all the way there yet.

His game still is prone to fits of inconsistency. He also is prone to fits of immaturity.

But Garcia has come a long way since doing his high-step dance down the 16th fairway at Medinah during the 1999 PGA Championship. He was all of 19 years old when he finished second to Tiger Woods. He wasn't ready to be a consistent challenger to Woods back then.

Now he is.

At the ripe old age of 21, Garcia's game has arrived. He comes into Thursday's first round of the British Open expected to make a serious run at Royal Lytham & St. Annes this week.

One thing that could stop him will be the weather. The Spaniard is having trouble getting comfortable in the cold, damp, windy conditions that pass for summer in this part of England.

"I don't mind wind, but wind and cold is a little too difficult," said Garcia.

Garcia has been among the hottest players in the world in warm weather. He has two titles since mid-May. The only blip occurred at the U.S. Open in June, when he faded from contention with a final-round 77.

Garcia, though, rebounded quickly by winning the Buick Classic the following week. The victory put him back on track.

"My confidence is a bit higher now that I have won," Garcia said. "There are more expectations than last year. But I still have to perform well. If I don't perform well, I am not going to have a chance, with or without the expectations."

Garcia has been performing well but did go through some growing pains first. He followed up his impressive performance at Medinah with an unimpressive 2000 season. Critics said the problem was Garcia's big, looping swing. They urged him to find a top coach instead of using his father Victor as his teacher.

Garcia, though, stayed with Victor. If anything, the criticism drove him to play better.

"I think everybody who said my swing was bad, and I had to change it, they have to eat their words," Garcia said. "I think it is a pretty good swing. It probably motivated me. More than anything, [Victor] didn't deserve that, and I wanted to show everyone that I was still a good player."

There is little doubt of that now. Scott Hoch got a firsthand look, finishing second to Garcia in the Buick.

"Sergio is as good a driver as Greg Norman was in his prime," Hoch said. "Where Tiger would hit an iron, Sergio can hit a driver. Tiger is very good with the driver, but I doubt he is as good as Sergio. He has got all the game right now. Obviously, he is not at Tiger's level, but right now I would put him at anybody else's level."

The next step is winning a major. Seve Ballesteros, Spain's greatest player, is looking forward to seeing how the next generation fares this week.

"Sergio is a very exciting player. I think he has the potential to win here," Ballesteros said. "But it is one thing to have the potential to win and another thing to win."

Garcia was at the threshold at the U.S. Open at Tulsa's Southern Hills. He came into the final round trailing by only two shots. But instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, he imploded, finishing in a tie for 12th.

"It was very disappointing because I really felt like I was playing well enough to win it," Garcia said. "But it was good too. It makes you relax, practice and keep trying as hard as you can. I think it helped me to win the week after."

Garcia says it is part of his maturation of a golfer. He also is trying to go through the same process as a person.

He still has some work do. He was fined Wednesday for criticizing the greens at last week's Scottish Open and got fined earlier this year for protesting too hard about a penalty he received during a tournament in Australia. Last year, he threw a shoe after a bad drive.

"It's something you learn," Garcia said. "Sometimes some people take things the wrong way and think you're a bad guy. But you know, it's going to happen sometimes. You've just got to calm down and think about it."

It isn't easy growing up in front of the world's eyes. Garcia says people forget that he still is only 21.

"I feel like I have improved a lot," Garcia said. "I have a lot more shots in my bag. Hopefully, things will keep going up, and I will be getting better and better."